Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Another Bain Casualty

I was catching up with old No-Cal connections today, and learned one of my former co-workers, who had been with his company just a hair under 10 years had recently become a casualty of ongoing corporate layoffs. It was a company that Bain Capital had swallowed up a number of years ago.
Here's the thing...Mitt Romney hasn't been running this show for a while, but the asshats who run Bain, and now run this company adhere to the very same rape and pillage policies Romney embraces- the ones that made him wealthy on the backs of a lot of very hard working, totally honorable and decent people.
Many years ago, I had the pleasure of working with the guy who lost his job today. He is smart, honest, creative, savvy, worked his ass off, and inspired others to do the same- and he was replaced by a brown-nosing dullard who would never dare to speak truth to the corporate douchebags who run the show.
Did I mention that he was a former military guy? A well educated former officer who never bragged about his service or accomplishments, because he was too busy setting a good example for his co-workers, family, friends, etc.
This is not an unusual story. It happens every day, to lots of really decent people, in the name of  'what's good for the shareholders' or 'rightsizing' or simply the corporate bullshit phrase, 'Grow or die'.
What's so abhorrent is that these corporate entities are liars, often know nothing of the businesses they take over, and fuck things up beyond repair. That's why you find Bain companies declaring bankruptcy and being liquidated for assets. Before they eliminate those essential employees who actually could make a difference,  they say things like, "Your numbers aren't where they need to be." or "Your performance isn't up to our management's expectations."
They say this after they've fucked with your budget, decimated support and sales staff, eliminated the products that your customer base relied on, or basically just screwed up a functioning company because they thought they could squeeze a little more out of it. Before they totally run things into the ground, they fill management slots with egotistical bags of hot air, who either bloviate about past successes, or are spineless yes men, refusing to speak truth to power. The folks who remain employed become more and more desperate, with second mortgages, kids in college, sick spouses...all site real-world concrete reasons why they have gradually become indentured to the Company.
I'm sorry this is happening. I'm sorry that a smart, honorable man was treated in a bad, dishonorable way, by people who are willing to sell their souls for a paycheck. I'm sorry he's just one of thousands. I wonder what it will take for people to see reality. I wonder how many more decent people need to get thrown under the bus for us to wake up and pay attention. What will it take keep companies like Bain from such amoral profiteering....and make working people realize that Mitt Romney has never had their best interest at heart?

1 comment:

  1. I don't think people are capable of ever "getting it". Using the example of the Downing Street Memo which proved these bastards committed treason wasn't even enough.

    What almost everyone here I've talked to the last two weeks here in Iowa is bama Care and welfare. This in an area where billions are floating around and land is now selling for 10K plus an acre. It's been hard to keep my mouth shut but I'm getting fed real gooood!

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